The Desert Prince
by Kamikaze Bear
Summary: Sand village hunter Liang Noa wants to see the world and vows to be an elite sand hunter, he fights monsters, endures scars of pain, and develops feelings for his partner, just for the sake of becoming stronger. Is currently being revised...
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note: I made a lot of major revises in every chapter, just to give it more zing!_**

Well I don't own the game &/ manga, it's just my story…

**It has been further revised**: names were changed

Let's start with the characters of the story (The main characters here are hot and young, like the usual anime characters!)

- Noa Kurebayashi (first name retained) - Gunlance user and a slight pervert, but a nice guy, has a liking for melon or strawberry bread, is allergic to cats.

- Marina Otogamine - Hunting Horn, user and looses eyesight when tired, she cares for Yuko like a sister, foreigner from a nearby town, tomboyish yet can be a soft spoken girl.

- Yuko Matsudaira - a Lancer and has the sharpest eyes, nice to everyone.

- Ken Ryuugasora - a Great Sword user, he loves eating rolls, contradicting Noa and teases him to people.

- Mineko Nagato - a different kind of human, having features of a cat such as her ears and tail.

- Gao Kirikaze - a Bow user, often random, and would pop-up anywhere.

- Yuri Kouzuki (retained) - a Dual Swords user, she is quite innocent with a pretty voice and is shy around people.

-Elder - The elder that has identical relatives. **_(A/N: Pokemon?)_**

**Chapter 1:**

**Behold the Sand hunter: A dream later to be attained!**

The Village of Sand… One of the leading villages in the world know for Iron works, heavy weaponry, the inventor of the Gunlance, Hunting horn, and Bowgun, and exporting cheap metal weapons to other villages.

The village resides within different rock formations cut into buildings all encircled in an iron wall, protected from storms. The centre of the village is a large towering building made of iron, known more as the Central Tower, it is where the Village elder resides along with the Sand Village training school for hunters, and it is also the dormitory of the hunters. Hunter floor is where the hunters reside, it is also their armoury.

Sand Village buildings—with the exception to the Central Tower—are all carved out of stone, giving them stronger resistance against the elements, unlike huts from different villages.

They are the only village with a secondary test. The first is to fight a Daimyo Hermitaur with full body weight, and the Second is to fight a fellow hunter until he is incapacitated and if they kill the opposing hunter, they would be banished and never return to the village again…

The Sand village is one of the seven great villages...

Tower village: The Village of the Strong. The finest in the world and creator of the strongest weapons anyone has ever seen. The village is within the ruins of an ancient tower that is as high as a mountain; it rests upon the dense jungle in the northern continent.

Volcano village: The Village of the Fast. It is remarked for their weapons made out of the strongest bones of the mightiest monsters. It resides within a large dormant volcano that has not erupted for millennia.

The Forest village: The Village of Stealth. They are hidden in trees, and are known for the best ambushers, which could trap any monster imaginable. They hide in the largest forest in the northern continent.

The Sand village: The Village of the Heavy Handed. The village known for iron, and different metal ores used to make weapons. The hunters are known to use the heaviest weapons anyone could ever lift. They live in the largest yet coldest wastelands in the southern continent.

The Swamp village: The Village of Poison. They train the finest archers in the world, known to use the deadliest poison from the muck of their Swamps. They are trained to both use and counteract any venom known. They reside in the swamps of the southern continent.

The Snow village: The Village of the Light Handed. Bread the hunters for the harshest of blizzards. Trained to kill with only small weapons, they match even the Volcano village in speed. They have the rarest of monsters residing in their mountains. They reside in the snowy mountains of the southern continent.

The Jungle village: The Village of the Wild. Making the most barbaric hunters and trained to survive an inhumane test where they have to be stranded on an island for three weeks, no supplies. They are in the largest and densest jungle within a peninsula at the southern tip of the northern continent.

Four students from the Sand village saw a man with heavy weights on his back and legs killing a Daimyo Hermitaur. He bashes it to the left, then the right, and then breaks the shell. The giant crustacean was enraged, foaming black water from its mouth.

The hunter was panting, exhausted from the fight, but he continues on. He smashes the angered monster in the head, and performed his final move. He dashed to the monster and gave it the mightiest blow he could ever give. The face of the monster was broken much like its shell, and then, the Hermitaur fell down from its legs and died.

"Woah!" they went, astonished by the skill and brutality of the hunter who slew the monster. Their eyes widened at amazement on how one man with many burden on his body defeat a beast greater his size. He was like a role model for them, to be used as an inspiration of their undying determination.

Moments later, they left, still amazed of the fight.

"That was so cool!"

Said Yuko Matsudaira, the girl who uses a lance. She had long hair which reaches down to her back; jet black, as dark as a cave, but as smooth as silk. Her eyes were big and blue that showed true emotions, blessing her face with astonishing beauty. Her body was that of a slim woman, not given a great bust, but given good charms. She was a young girl of only fifteen, young yet full of spirit and has consideration for other people.

"Hey Noa, I wonder if we can do what that man did?"

Asked their friend Ken Ryuugasora, the man who wields a great sword. A man who charms any woman, his skin was tanned from going outside his home, and exposed to the sun often. He was not muscular, instead, he was slim. The boy had short-back dirty-blonde hair with black highlights, he had few thick strands of hair reaching up to his eyes as his right bangs, with one strand on the middle, and thinner strands to the left. He was a boy of only sixteen years of age.

"Ehehehe… I don't think that might happen…" said Noa Kurebayashi, the man of the gunlance. He has a slight appearance of a young maiden, a beautiful young boy. He shows charisma in his more angled red eyes, it shows his ferocity, his courage. His hair is grey like the finest steel in the land, his spiky hair pointed to the right, with one loose strand falling down near his forehead. He was a boy who is as old as Ken.

"Besides… we have to do two tests and one of them is to fight another hunter… what a bummer even for me!" said Marina Otogamine, the maiden who uses a hunting horn. A girl who came from a different village in the desert, she was beautiful as she was courageous. Her jet black hair was longer than that of Yuko, long up to her waist in a ponytail, with thick stands of hair as her bangs. Her grey eyes gave out her attitude; they were well formed and charming, despite the colour. She dazzles men with a body of a mature woman. She is the eldest at the age of seventeen.

"Yeah you have two weak spots, one is that you're half-blind and two, Yen-chan-" said the ever jesting Ken. Marina suffers from a state of temporary blindness whenever she has exhausted herself and it is rare to have such a case.

Marina—who had a short temper—punched Ken in the face out of annoyance. Ken's right cheek swelled as he was left leaning on the wall as Marina angrily left him.

"You didn't see that coming, and you call me the blind one!" she said.

As they kept walking, Yuko thought of an idea. An idea which will lead to the four hunters to what they thought of as their fate.

"Hey! I got an idea! Let's make an oath!" she said to them happily suggesting her idea. The others were confused at first as they have no idea what "oath" they will partake in. They asked her what kind of oath they will be committing to.

"An oath?" they went  
"Yeah!" Yuko said, giving her charming smile. She then explained to them what the oath will be. She said.

"Let's swear that we will be able to finish the test and be known throughout the entire village of Sands!"

The others thought of this as a great idea. They were delighted of the suggestion and agreed to have an oath. An oath where they will never back down, and strive to be legendary hunters for their village.

"Yeah!" they agreed with smiles on their faces  
"Okay now that's settled let's grab a roll!" Ken—the boy who loves eating rolls—said.

Finally, it has been a month after their oath… They have all strived in order to graduate from the sand village as hunters and finally be able to see the outside world and be the legends they want to be. They have passed all the tests, fight monsters with weights, and fight a fellow hunter to pass.

Noa was the last to fight the secondary test against their hunting instructor. His instructor had a hammer as his weapon of choice, Noa used a gunlance. The instructor used his hammer and smashed it to the ground to make a quake. Noa loses balance by the shake of the hammer

"Gah!" he went as he struggled to keep his footing. Getting his balance back, he shot a shell forcing the instructor to fall down. The instructor got back up, dusting himself off, and prepared another attack on Noa.

The instructor jumps hoping to hit Noa with his hammer, but the wyvern's fire, the gunlance's most powerful ability, was activated. This knocked the instructor, flying to the wall from the blast and left him unconscious…

"Whoa…" his friends went.

After the smoke clears out, Noa was breathing deeply, struggling to keep himself standing as he embraced his gunlance. Dust on his face and scratches on his armour, he was sweating, tired, but he was excited. Because he knew, he had won the battle.

"WHOA! NICE ONE NOA!" they went.

As they left the arena, the group was very happy that every one of them has passed the test. Smiles were seen in the faces, as well as sweat from their fights and sand from the arena. Noa was still sweating and grasping for air, but was happy and celebrating his victory with his friends.

"That was so awesome Noa-kun!" said Yuko, going to his front and holding him by his exhausted arm.

"Ehehehe you think so?" he said with a slightly exhausted voice.

"If I can see you, I'd give you a knuckle punch." said Marina, blinded from exhaustion and had her hand on Noa's shoulder as a guide.

They finally headed to the Elder's private floor in the Central Tower. Since it was the highest floor of the tower, they made use of an elevator using a pulley system powered by monsters running inside large wheels encasing.

They then reached the Elder's floor; the whole floor was one big pond inside a room with only a stepping stones and bridges as well as one stone platform to step on. On the sides there were two fountains with two statues of hunters who were believed to have been the founders of the village. Water was dripping out like a waterfall, falling to ponds filled with water lilies. The elder was sitting on the stone platform on the other side of the room, behind him was a large sword made of steel, said to have been used to carve the village by its founders.

The elder was a small old man wearing a cream cape with yellow patterns. Yellow was the colour of the Sand Village.

He was delighted to meet the new hunters, congratulating them on their job-well-done, and informing them what is going to happen next after leaving the Sand Village. He spoke

"Ah I shee that you'sh wash able to pash zhe tesht… Good, good, Now, what you need to do to become a legendary hunter ish to make a weapon of metal. Name yer weapon, and engrave its name and the emblem of the village to yer weapon and to yer armor. Then will yah be a recognized hunter in zhe shand village…"

They nodded as a reply that they understood what they needed to do. They received materials to make their armour from the Elder and were told to go to the blacksmith to have it made and engraved. Quickly they went to the blacksmith like children leaving school and heading home. As they got out of the Central Tower

"The guild even gave us the necessary material to make the weapon." said Ken.

They went to the blacksmith and were told to have their weapons and armour be made by them as well, yet it was no trouble for hunters to make their own armour. Quickly, they made their weapons. For days without rest, they forged steel, poured down sweat on the floor, and made the mechanisms of their weapons. Then finally, engraved their emblem on their weapons as well as the name of it, and engraved their emblems on their armour…

"_Bathala_, that is your name…" said Ken, as he wiped of the sweat from his forehead after engraving the name of his Great Sword.

"_Ylla_…my home village's founder and legendary mistress, that's this horn's name." said Marina, as she was making her final adjustments to her Hunting Horn, slowly engraving the name of the weapon in fancy lettering.

Yen and Noa used old characters of their village to name their weapons as well as the old Sand Village tongue.

"The Steel Skeleton, In the old sand village language, Gang Lou '鋼髏',what about you Noa?" Yen said when she finally finished her Lance, engraving characters in her lance.

"Mine, is Divine Tiger! In our old language, Shen Hu, '神虎'." said Noa, when he finally finished attaching the parts and loaded his Gunlance, then engraved his weapon's name.

Finally, they all finished their weapons. When they got out of the blacksmith while carrying their weapons, they looked at the iron gates, separating them from their destiny. Their exhausted faces from days of work, gave smiles as they look forward to a new tomorrow. When they can finally see what awaits them.

"I can't wait to leave the village…" said Noa.  
"But we need to get an elder quest before we leave and we have to prepare too." said Marina.

"Yeah…" he went. They all turned back and headed to the Central Tower, to rest and prepare for their journey into the outside world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Out of the village: the Gendrome strikes!**

A day has passed and the four Hunters went to meet with the elder. They wanted to ask for their first real quest as hunter.

Every graduate of the Sand Village must have to take at least one quest from their home village to be able to leave for the other villages. Though it may not be a test, but it is required from Sand hunters to do so. The most preferred mission involved slaying the yellow paralysis lizard, the Gendrome.

"Ahh what ish it young onesh, yah want to shtart yer firsht ever quesht?" The Elder asked.

"We want a Gendrome slaying quest." requested Noa, crossing his hands with confidence. Although he has fought a few arena-bread Gendromes, he has never fought a wild Gendrome in his life. Wild monsters tend to be much more powerful compared with arena-bread ones.

"Are yah sure yah can do thish. Fighting a Gendrome ish eashy in zhe ring, but a wild one?" said The Elder, who looked worried for the other new hunters.

"We'll take the risk, Elder." said Ken, who was also very confident with his skills. The Elder—despite being worried about them—decided to give them one Gendrome hunting quest, if they could handle the situation. Even if he was doubtful, he was confident that Sand hunters could defeat any type of desert monster.

The Elder informed them where to go and what to do before they left for the quest.

"Okay, okay… I undershtand… Go to the gatekeeper of the iron gatesh, and give thish quesht form to him. He'll let yah out." He said.

He gave them the hunting request before they left for their very first mission.  
"When you finish the quest, you have full authority to leave the village or stay as long as you please." He added.

When they received it, they exited with excitement, losing their patience as they want to fight so badly

"Man, our first quest as Sand hunters!" said the overjoyed Ken.  
"I know! This will be so cool!" added Yuko.

When they finally passed by the training school's grounds, Noa could not help but feel nostalgic as he took glances at the school arena, remembering all the things he went through just to become a hunter of his village.

Taking glances at the classroom he stayed in, the other students who are also preparing to graduate as the next batch of hunters. He started reminiscing it all, the years he went through, all the pains and hard work he did to pursue his career.

He looked at their first classroom when he enrolled, it was empty, no students, no teachers just him and his group. Marina saw him staring at the classroom from the door; she walked to him and said.

"It's hard to forget about things right?"

"I know it's hard, but we have to serve now as hunters, and be known in the Sand Village, remember that Noa…" said Yuko who went to him and reminded him of what duties they now have after graduating.

"I know…" he said with a tear dropping from his eye. He wiped it and told them  
"We're Sand Village hunters now. This means we will be facing more challenges, but we'll face them and keep on fighting!"

The others nodded and they all decided to give one last visit in the classroom. They sat on the chairs where they used to be when they were still just students. Started talking about some memorable moments, funny moments, sad moments. Then to finally end their visit, they all stood up and gave their last bow, as sign of respect, then proceeded outside the Central Tower…

Before they could go anywhere, they went to the store and bought ten potions each member and whetstones just in case they lose their weapon's sharpness. After buying what they need they proceeded to the gate.

"Okay! Now to the gatekeeper…" said Ken, while eating a roll  
"That's something you'll never forget, rolls…" Noa jested

"Look who's talking, Mister-Melon-Bread." Ken answered back to Noa, who had a craving for pastries, his most favourite was Melon bread

"Shut it." the annoyed Noa said.

As they got to the gates, they tried to find where the gatekeeper was. The gate was large enough to protect the village from sandstorms. It was powered by steam, so it did not require monsters to be used to pull it open. The gatekeeper is stationed at a pulpit-like platform twenty feet from the ground.

They saw that nobody was at the platform so they called "Hello?" yet no response was given. Until all of a sudden, some girl came jumping from the platform, she was hiding in it and tried surprising the party.

She surprised them; their feet went back one step trying to avoid her. The girl was as young as fourteen, she had blonde hair tied into pigtails along with blue energetic eyes. She wore simple Sand Village clothing such as a loose, but short robe over her body and steel leg armour below. She had a bowgun behind her, indicating she was either a Hunter or a Village Guard.

She raised her hand as means of saying hello, then asked them  
"Yoooh! Watcha want here!?"

"Are you the gatekeeper?" asked Yuko  
"Oh that's my father! Are you guys going to leave for a quest?" she asked

"_The gatekeeper's daughter huh?_" they thought

"Yes, what's your name?" asked Marina  
"Kaori, the gatekeeper's cute daughter!" she replied while twirling merrily as she introduced herself to the group.

Ken took a glance on her weapon…

"You're a heavy bowgunner." He said.

"Yup that's right!" she replied and again raised her right hand to the air while pointing upward and doing a cutesy pose as she says

"I'm a part of the Village Guard!" with pride

Marina thought of Kaori as some cute little ten-year-old, since her petite physique made her look like a preteen person. Marina asked Kaori nicely like a big sister.

"Is the gatekeeper around little gunner?" hearing the word 'little' made Kaori annoyed and furious, as she hates being called that by her size. She said angrily while throwing a tantrum in front of them

"I'm fourteen years old, granny! And no, papa's busy!" 'Granny' is something people should not tell Marina. She hates being called an old person despite being only seventeen. Her eyes twitched in anger and started yelling

"You little runt! Just open the freaking gate!" she shouted, back to her normal attitude, a loudmouthed tomboyish girl who gets angry easily.

"Marina calm down…" Yuko tried to calm Marina down, by placing her hand on Marina's back and holding her by her right arm as she looked at her with a worried face. Marina does not want to see Yuko worried about her or see her sad and tried to calm down, for her sake.

"Hmph! Whatever." She said as she looked away from Kaori and Yuko  
"Fine, fine… I'll open the iron gates, where are your quest forms?" said Kaori stretching her hand and asking for their hunting request forms given by the elder.

"Here…" Noa gave the forms to Kaori. I had the stamp of the Elder and was legitimate. Kaori went back to the platform and pulled down the switch, opening the Iron Gates. The gates slowly opened as they could hear slight screeching and clunking made by it as it opened.

Finally they saw the grand desert of the southern continent

"Whoa!" they went

The desert was large, giant pointed rock formations were seen to the east, and sand dunes to the west. It was barren, only cacti could be seen but there are very few of them, along with shrubs and bushes. The sound of the desert's roar was loud as it blew winds like an angry swarm of large sky monsters flying by the desert.

"Good luck! Supply boxes are over there beside the gates!" said Kaori as she pointed at the blue and red box near the gate.

They grabbed the items in a blue box just beside the gates, cold drinks in case the desert starts to heat up and could lead them to fatigue from dehydration. There were also hot drinks for the cold parts of caves, and if ever they were hungry or injured, rations first-aid meds and a Barbeque spit.

They started eating the rations to prolong their stamina for fighting the Gendrome. And when they finally finished eating, they prepared to hunt down the yellow lizard.

"Okay! Let's go, we got fifty minutes!" said Noa, and they started running towards the large desert in search for their objective. As they ran off they try to find the Gendrome, the desert finally started getting hotter. The storms eased, but the sun was shining at its brightest.

"I can't find it, it's all mirages." complained Ken, they looked for ten minutes wandering the desert just to find the Gendrome and deal with it quickly before the heat gets unbearable. From dunes to caves, they found no Gendrome, until finally…

"There it is!" shouted Yuko.

The Gendrome appeared to them, along with a group of Genpreys. The monster was a slim green lizard which was taller than them. Its webbings on its head widen like wings when it screeches at its enemies.

It scratches its foot on the ground like a chicken, and shouts at them, telling them to leave. The hunters do not agree with what the monster was trying to say, and they prepared their weapons to kill it.

"Let's kill it guys!" cried Noa and quickly charged in to monster.

They charged in and attacked the Gendrome. Yuko charges at it with her lance, running at it as fast as she can, but to no use as the Gendrome just to its side to avoid her blow. The Gendrome started taunting the group, telling it to hit harder than that.

"No use!" said Marina, she then raised her horn and started playing a song to strengthen her comrades. Noa kept shooting shells with his gun lance, only to a limited success as some of the shots did not reach the monster. Ken tried to bash the legs with his huge sword.

They continue on doing so until Marina gets tired and goes blind.

"No way, not now!" shouted Marina.

The Gendrome saw Marina as a sitting duck, and planned on paralyzing her with its jump. It screeched and charged at her. Getting enough momentum, it leaped forwards and is about to land and inflict pain on her. But before she was hit, Noa ran to cover Marina, with him ending up paralyzed instead.

"Gah!" he shouted in pain.  
**"NOA!"** they went.  
"I-I can't move!" he shouted.

The wild Gendrome was too strong for them, with two of their teammates down; they had no other choice but to retreat. Yuko shouldered Marina while Ken carried Noa. They retreated near a cave and rested.

"You guys wait here 'til you recover" said Yuko and along with Ken ran back outside to continue fighting the Gendrome.

Marina was surprised to why Noa would do such a crazy stunt. Even though she could not see, she asked him angrily.

"Stupid! Why did you block that attack with your body!?" asked Marina, angry at how thoughtless his action was. Noa's head was tilted to her, he told her what the reason was for him to do it. With little strength he had, he told her

"I just acted on instinct… I had to… protect those… who are important to me…" he replied and tried to smile to show her he had no regrets doing so. Marina turned silent, she was as stunned as Noa was; her cheeks gave off a luminescent blush after hearing what Noa had to say. Lost for words, all she could say was

"Noa…?"

Noa then added to what he said "Well, we are teammates after all."

Marina lost her blush and immediately reacted "Oh yeah! Yeah we are…"

Finally after less than twenty minutes, Marina managed to regain her vision, Noa on the other hand still felt numb, but it did not stop him from going back to the fight. They got up and took their weapons and prepared to fight the Gendrome one more time. Noa warmed up his body as he told Marina

"Argh… Let's go back there."

Marina nodded, and they both ran out the cave and fought the Gendrome.

When they got out of the cave, Yuko and Ken were still seen fighting the monster, with its hood full of holes. Yuko saw them running out of the cave, she said.

"Noa! Marina!"

Ken looked at them, and looked back at the Gendrome which was about to jump on him, but he successfully shielded himself with his sword. He went "Glad you guys could make it!" and swung the sword to the side, hitting and severely injuring the Genrdome's side.

The two charged at the Gendrome. Noa stabbed it with the gunlance's bayonet as much as he could. Marina timed things right as she played different notes while attacking and changing different stances all at the same time. They attacked it as much as they could, with the monster finally starting to limp away from them. Noa started to feel light headed from dehydration and his body could not hold long as it was still very numb. But those did not stop him as he was determined to kill the monster and finish their quest.

"I'm not 'gonna give up yet!" he went.

He ran in front of the Gendrome as fast as he could and pointed his weapon's barrel at its face, the Gendrome stretched its hood in rage and tried to get Noa out of its way. It swung its tail, but Noa dodged it and prepared his final move, the wyvern's fire.

"Take this!" Noa shouted, and the gunlance give a large blast out of its muzzle, blowing the Gendrome's face, as it flew from the impact and died as it landed on the sand. As the dust and smoke cleared out, Noa was left standing, but was very, very tired.

"*pant*pant* That… was for Marina-" Noa dropped his gunlance and fell to his knees, then fainted in fatigue and dehydration.

"NOA!?" the group went. Yuko and Ken ran to Noa and tried to get him back up. Marina was not feeling good as well, her face was red from heat she said with a faint voice "N-Noa…" and fainted as well…

"Noa, Marina!" Yuko yelled.

Three hours later in the Central Tower…

"Mnmnmnm… What happened?" asked Noa, wondering where he was and what happened. They were in hunter floor, in Noa's room, Yuko was sitting on a chair and Ken was standing next to her.

"We're in hunter floor, we got the reward already. Oh, and you get a bonus…" said Ken, as he grinned mischievously. Noa was confused only to feel something from his back.

What Ken meant by 'bonus' was that Marina was sleeping next to him and both of them were only wearing their underwear and shared the same blanket. Marina then regained consciousness and noticed a half dressed Noa next to her. Her eyes turned bigger and dilated, with her face turned as red as a tomato.

**"WHAT THE HELL!?"** She and Noa shouted.

Yuko blushed in embarrassment and looked away from them with her hand covering her mouth, she said "You were hugging each other while you were sleeping…"

The two were both turning red and looked at each other, then hastily moved to the edges of the bed. Ken decided to tease Noa and jested

"It was so romantic when you blocked the Gendrome… and how you finished it of 'That's for Marina' you said… I didn't know you had the hots for her HAHAHAHA! Wait here I'll get us a love roll HAHAHAHAHA!?" he laughed very hard

Noa gets off the bed in annoyance, and to their surprise…

"Oh my-!" said Yuko, her eyes dilated and her face turned really red with her hand clamping the lower half of her face. Ken found it very hilarious and continued joking

"You dirty little pervert… standing up enjoying the situation hahahahahaha!"

Marina and Noa were both furious and started chasing Ken despite only wearing their underwear.

"COME BACK HERE!" they shouted.

"Try and catch me!" said Ken.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

**Goodbye my beloved home: the story of a legendary cave! **

After finishing their first quest, they finally have permission to leave the Sand Village and can travel wherever they please. Their first stop, the Snow village, and it was also the nearest village they can get to. The Geography of the world were three massive land forms, the Southern Continent where the Sand, Swamp and Snow village lies, the Northern Continent, where the Jungle, Forest, Volcano, and Tower village lies, and the Eastern Supercontinent, not much known by hunters, as it was separated by a large ocean.

The Snow village was to the southeast of the Sand Village, at the mountainous regions of the Southern Continent. The desert was the coldest and largest in the world, as it was near a snowy region. What divided the village was the large tunnel carved under the large mountain range dominating the central Southern Continent

They packed their things, food, cold drinks, a map, and torches. Noa noticed something wrong with his gunlance. A gunlance is required to have a safety, to prevent the trigger from igniting the strong shells it chambered.

"The safety's broken…"

The gunlance's safety broke when Noa and the others fought the Gendrome. He said

"I don't have time to fix it here." He withdrew his weapon and decided to fix it some other time, but, he had to be careful.

"I'll just have to fix it when we get to the Snow village…"

The group went go to the gates, to make their final preparations for their first journey outside the village, only to see Kaori once again…

"Hi guys! Are yah planning to leave the village today?" she asked  
"Yes Kaori-chan… but we will be gone for a while." said Yuko

"Oh… You guys gonna travel?"

"Yeah… we'll be back here by a month or so, okay?" said Noa. It takes a month's worth of travelling to explore one-half of the Southern Continent, especially that the group will have to cross the desert only to reach the snowy forest leading to the Snow village.

"Ah… Well come back safe!" she said  
"Sure." said Marina

Kaori went to the platform and activated the switch. The gates opened, and the group saw the desert with the sun in full rise. They walked outside the gates to start their journey into the Snow village.

The gate of the Sand Village was facing west, so they had to turn around the village to get to their destination. They walked for miles, only to see dunes, dunes, and more dunes. Despite the desert being the coldest in the world, it was still a desert, meaning the sun has nothing to block its light and heat from the group. The group started to feel the heat, and sweltered inside their clothing.

"Argh! Why is it so hot!?" said Noa  
"We're in the desert, stupid…" said Marina  
"I want a roll, right now!" said Ken

Three more hours worth of walking, they have started hallucinating from the searing heat and have begun dehydrating. They started walking upright and then ended up slouching from the heat.

"I can't walk… anymore…" panted Marina  
"Marina, hold on." said Yuko.

They have been exposed to too much heat that they have started hallucinating and acting strange. Marina on one had started to see sparkles in her background and started acting all dramatic. She and Yuko started acting different, as if Yuko was sad to leave Marina die in the heat, while Marina acts all heroic and tells them to go on without her.

"I can't anymore, go on without me…" went Marina as she fell to her knees  
"No! Marina…" went Yuko who grabbed her before she fell to the sand, they looked at each other with slight tears coming out from their eyes

"Yuko…" went Marina  
"Marina…" went Yuko  
"Yuko…" went Marina

"Marina, we're near the tunnels." then, Noa said as he saw a nearby cave. And with excitement, Marina stood up and ran with haste, leaving the confused Yuko in her dust, or sand. Marina was so overjoyed to finally get into some shade, only to not notice she was running towards a rock near the entrance.

"Oof!" she went as she collided with the rock.  
"Your fault for running, do that and you'll go blind again…" jested Ken  
"Oh shut up!" she said

"Hey, you need a hand there?" asked Noa  
"Sure, thanks…" she said

Noa gave Marina a hand, and helped her back on her feet. They continued walking inside the cave, then Yuko started explaining

"People barely use this place to get to The Snow village, but it's the fastest way to get to there. They say that this was a legendary cave… I wonder why?" said XioaYuko.

They looked further inside and lit a torch to illuminate the pitch black cave. As they walked deeper inside, they saw multiple stalactites, and stalagmites that formed like a dragon's teeth. Bats were seen flying from one rock formation to another. Then Ken jested about getting lost inside a dark cave

"Noa, you and Marina should hold hands so you won't get lost… hehehehe-"

"SHUT UP!" they shouted loudly

The shout was so loud that the large colonies of sleeping bats awoke, and were provoked by them. They started flying away in such a large group.

"Hyah!" Yuko reacted

The bats were too many, that Noa accidentally fell on his back. He was knocked back so hard that his safety-lacking gunlance's trigger ignited a shell, and made a large bang that echoed loudly throughout the cave. Then, the cave suddenly rumbled as the weakened rocks started falling down on top on them. They ran away quickly to avoid getting hit by the rocks, but unknowingly separating from each other.

Marina and Noa were separated from Yuko and Ken.

"Ken!? Yuko!?" Noa yelled

He tried removing the rocks but more just kept tumbling down

"Damn it, we're stuck!" said Noa.  
"No duh, Noa! What the heck happened to you gunlance!?"  
"Its safety broke after that fight with the Gendrome. I was thinking of fixing it in the Snow village, but I didn't expect this to happen."

"You should have fixed it while we were still in the Sand Village! We could wait y'know!" Marina yelled, she was just so angry about the moment, but started calming down, and sighed to relieve herself.

"Yeah, you're right, my bad" said Noa. They sat down on the ground and lit another torch.  
"No use arguing about it…" said Noa.

Then Marina felt something painful on her leg

"Ouch" she went  
"Huh? What happened-" said Noa

He noticed a big cut on Marina's right leg, which was caused by one of the sharp stalactites that fell down on them. He checks to see how bad it was. It appeared as a deep cut with blood dripping out of it. Noa reacted to it immediately, thinking he was the one at fault for her wound.

"Marina wait! Hold on, okay?" said Noa. He used a portion of cloth from his armour and used it to wrap the wound. Then he took one of his special herbs from his satchel. He bought the herb before they left. It is said to heal wounds as bad as Marina's. Before wrapping the wound, he grounded the herb with a makeshift mortar and placed it there, then wrapped it tightly. The herb was also an anaesthetic, making Marina's leg numb.

"How's that?" said Noa.  
"Uh... yeah I can't feel my leg, but it's better than letting it bleed, thanks…" said Marina.

Noa assisted Marina in walking. Her right arm was wrapped on Noa's shoulder while Noa supported her like a crutch. They walked around the cave to see if they could find an exit. As they kept walking, Marina noticed that she was becoming too heavy for Noa, she looked at him to make sure if he was okay.

"Hey Noa, am I getting to heavy for you?"  
"Nah, I'm okay." But he was slowly getting tired. Marina was looking slightly worried that she was becoming a burden to him.

"I think I could walk on my own now." She said  
Noa disagreed, and said "Nah, the herb take hours to lose effect. I'll just… have to carry you around… while that's the case… phew…" obviously he was already tired. But they just kept walking, and then, they finally saw light.

"Hey that must be an exit!" he said  
"Isn't it a little too near though? Anyway, let's go!" Marina replied

When they kept walking towards what they thought was an exit, they were surprised with what they saw.

"What the-" went Marina.  
"A-A…" said the surprised Noa

"A GIGANTIC SWORD…" they both said

It was a giant monolith, a gigantic, fifty feet tall slab of limestone craved into a great sword that had a statue of a woman lifting her arms towards the crystal stalactites. This was the only part of the cave that was illuminated. Also, it was the middle part of the cave that they have to cross. From outside the cave, this part was the largest and tallest of the mountain range. The tip of the mountain was a large machalite crystal that reached down to the part Marina and Noa were. Sunlight reflected the machalite crystal and illuminated the cave in blue.

They looked at the monolith, only to see a message carved next to it.

"_The crystals that watches over you would guide you to the right path towards your destiny, yet they will guide you, only if, you show them the greater purpose of your leave… Be wary of false leads, if you show false purposes…_" Marina read

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Noa  
"I don't know." Marina shrugged

Then Noa started feeling a tingling feeling in his nose, and sneezed

"Achoo!"

His sneezed just startled more bats sleeping near the stalactites. The wave of bats started flying away, unfortunately to Noa and Marina's direction. The two were startled as well and out-of-impulse embraced each other.

"Gah!" they shouted  
"Are-Are they gone!?" asked Marina, only blinking her eyes slightly in case more fly towards them.

"Yeah, I think so" said Noa

They noticed that they were too close to each other, and started blushing in embarrassment. The two looked away from each other, still having red faces, until Noa felt a rumble in his stomach. They have not eaten anything yet.

"I'm starving. Let's eat?" he suggested  
"Good plan." Marina replied

He laid his gunlance on the floor and grabbed two pieces of raw meat from his satchel. He placed Marina on top of a small rock platform. The meats were marinated in preservatives before they left, to prevent it from rotting on the way. Noa prepares the barbeque spit, and sets the fire with wood, and lit with their torch.

When the meat was finally cooked, they started eating, and while they ate, Marina asked Noa a question.

"Hey Noa? What…what would happen… if we were not to get out of here?"

"Don't say that." Noa said, as he chewed on the cooked meat. As he was munching, Noa reminded Marina that they still had something to do, and it does not involve dying on their first journey.

He placed the meat back on the spit, and said

"We had a promise to be great hunters of the Sand Village. And I'm not going to let some measly cave-in finish it."

"Noa…" Marina whispered.

"If we get stuck here, I'll claw my way out! I'm not going to die here, and that's final! You won't either! We're going to be great hunters, remember that Marina!"

Noa's words filled Marina with encouragement. Marina felt confident, and her worries left her immediately. Remembering that they have a sworn to do achieve their goal, which was to be great hunters of the Sand Village. She smiled, and nodded

"You're right! We shouldn't let a cave-in get in our way—whoa!" she stood up from the rock she was sitting on, but with her still-unconscious leg, she lost balance just before standing upright

"Whoa!"  
"M-Marina!?" Noa went

Luckily, Noa caught Marina in time, but then things got awkward. Noa was pushed down by the fallen Marina. Marina was on top of him, Noa felt her soft chest pressed against his. Their faces were so close together, and it turned so red that it looked like the colours reflected from each other's face.

"N-Noa…"

Their lips were so close from each other. They were breathing deeply from the shock, sharing each other's warm breath. They were sweating from the nervousness, and their eyes dilated. Then, just as the moment started getting much awkward…

The machalite crystal stalactites started lighting up the tunnel, which will lead them to an exit.

"Eh?" they went, and looked at the crystals lit. Marina tried getting off of Noa by rolling to his left, and sat on the ground, with her leg still unable to move.

"Hey, another exit!" said Marina…  
"Maybe Ken and Yuko are already outside!" Noa said

Then Noa packed his stuff, his weapon, and took Marina. They started walking, but felt uncomfortable after what happened. Noa told Marina to keep what happened as secret.

"Hey, Marina, let's keep that little accident a while ago between us, okay?"  
"I don't wanna remember that moment ever, Noa. So shut up…" Marina replied

They kept walking, until they saw real light at the end of the tunnel. Then, when they exited the tunnel, they saw Ken and Yuko unhurt. Ken and Yuko have been waiting for them since they managed to exit first. They got out first because they carved their way through the weakened rocks with their weapons, and led them to a route which no longer went to the giant monolith.

"Marina, Noa! Are you okay!?" asked Yuko  
"Yuko, Ken! How'd you get out so fast?" they asked  
"Noa's little accident caused the rocks to weaken! We just carved our way outs. We practically made a new way out!" Ken laughed

"How'd you guys get out?" Yuko asked

Noa replied with a figurative answer which caused the other two to get confused  
"Uh… the power of determination?"

Yuko and Ken did not understand what Noa meant, and simply replied  
"Okay?"

About a day after what happened, they walked from a barren dessert, to a lush forest filled with pine trees. Then they noticed that the road they trekking slowly got steeper. That meant that they were getting closer to the Snowy Mountains, although, the cave-in got them delayed by one day.

"Argh! We got a day delayed!" said Ken  
"SORRY ALREADY!" Noa yelled

Yuko can't help but ask Noa and Marina "Oh yeah, what happened while we got separated?"

That caused Noa and Marina to turn red, remembering one thing they hoped to forget in their journey.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" they yelled

Ken, who loved to jest, joked about Noa and Marina doing nasty things inside the cave. He said it with a malicious tone.

"Kissing, or maybe… something else…" he snickered. And then, he was smacked on the head by the angered Marina.

"You idiot, don't be such a perv!" yelled Noa  
"Look who's talking, you were the one who peeked on them during their bath time!"

The surprised Marina covered her body with her arms, and shouted

"N-Noa!? You're a perv like anyone else!"  
"Noa you perv…" Yuko looked down and blushed, thinking Noa has seen her bare before

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" yelled Noa

Just as they kept walking up the hill, they started seeing snow fall from the sky, and then, they saw the Snow Mountains rising up from the horizon as they climbed up the hill.

"Hey! It's the Snowy Mountains!" shouted Yuko  
"Yeah, it is!" said Marina  
"We're near the Snow village!" said Noa

"But that doesn't change the fact that you're a pervert!" shouted Marina pouted and stared away.  
"Oh come on!" he shouted

And then, they ran towards the Snow village.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

**Hello the Snow village: A new member, the fierce Ochre giant!**

As they have reached the Snow village's gate, they were so happy that they have successfully journeyed towards another village.

The Snow village was located beside a large cliff of the Snowy Mountains. It was encircled by a thick stone wall, with two large towers near the gates. There were houses made up of wood in pagoda designs, inside the wall of the village, and on its sides. It had a zigzag mountain pass to reach the cliff, and it even had houses hanging on its edges. The village elder resides inside the largest hut located at the highest part of the Snow village, which was the cliff.

The village's hunters were all wearing fur coats, due to the cold. The locals were distinctly paler compared to the Sand villagers, and they all had cream or blonde hair. They used Popos to pull their carts and Antekas to pull their sleighs. The main strip of the village was made purely of shops, which ranged from food to weapons.

"Wow! This village is so cool!" said the Yuko  
"Awesome! They're really different from the Sand village… and it's freezing here!" said the shivering Marina

"Well it IS the SNOW village…" said Ken who was also shivering  
"Let's find some place to sleep here." said Noa, and they decided to look around for an inn. They bought fur coats at a nearby store to at least withstand the cold, and Noa got his gunlance's safety fixed to a blacksmith. The group saw a nearby inn.

It was a big inn, and like any other place in the village, made of wood with sliding windows. The inn had two stories, with the lower part as a tavern. It looked aged from the years of serving both travellers and hunters alike. Inside the inn was the tavern full of people drinking wine and cider, and eating mutton from an Anteka and a large Bullfango skewered and cooked at a large turning spit.

People ranging from travellers to hunters were merrymaking, drinking, singing, playing games, while others were dancing along the performing bands that made use of ethnic Snow village instruments.

They looked for the nearest wench and asked her where the innkeeper was. She happily showed them to the innkeeper inside the next room. They managed to get two rooms for the cost of 1000z each, the food was free since they rented a room.

Finally, they get to put their bags in their rooms, and leaned their weapons on the wall. It was an exhausting trip getting from the Sand village to the Snow village, and now they get some rest.

"Man, my feet are killing me." Noa said when he jumped back on the hay bed covered with a cotton bed sheet

"Yeah, mine are too." said Ken while eating a roll he took out from his bag

Marina went inside their room, and told them to get some rest before the quest the following day.

"Well, we better get some rest, we'll be hunting tomorrow."  
"Yep." Ken said as he took his last bite of his roll, and lied flat on the bed.

They rested, the boys talked about what they are going to do with the hunt, and the girls talked about how they want their armour should look both practical and fashionable. The group then went downstairs and ate at the tavern. After a hefty meal, they went back to their rooms and got to bed.

After getting some rest, they packed their things necessary for the hunt and left for the Guild hall.

The Guild hall was large—like any other hall in the seven great villages. The hall was a five-story pagoda-styled building, the sides of the biggest roof having long, sharp horns, making it look demonic, much like a monster. The roofs were made of hay, and blanketed with snow, much like any other house in the village.

The arch of the door was made with large elder dragon fangs, making the entrance look like a monster's mouth.

The doors were blue _sashimono_ with white triangles on the top part. Each banner had the characters written in monster's blood, one had "Honour" the other "Unity" the other "Survival"

"Wow, the Snow village sure knows how to make a Guild hall!" said Noa, appreciating the intense look of the Snow village Guild hall.

They walk towards the guild, and was amazed at how big it was. It had a wide interior. The rear was where they get to find the receptionists for the quest, behind them was a large wooden bored hung in chains connected to a thick beam. It had a ladder which is full of at least eighty different quests, ten per each level, from the low ranks to the high ones.

To its left was an _onsen_ which extends outside the Guild hall. The _onsen_ was divided into the male's side and the female's side with a tall bamboo wall. To its right was the largest mess hall in the southern continent. Snow villagers were feast-loving people, so their food was always served in massive quantities and their tables for feasting were larger than the average house. There was a kitchen where a large crew of felynes and meylinxes were cooking endless meals for the hunters who feasts every victory of their hunt. The second to fourth floor was for the Village Defence Battalion in charge of the village's defence against monsters who attack the village. It was their barracks as well as their armoury.

The fifth floor was the smallest part of the building with a large room inside, that was where the Snow village's sacred treasure, the Twin Swords _Kuro_ and _Byaku_ was located, none has ever seen it, with the exception of the Elder, for it was—in legend—the sword of the Village's founder, who defeated a large elder dragon to make a village for his tribe of nomads.

Inside the hall, other hunters from different villages were present, hundreds of them were either taking a bath, eating, or preparing a quest. Some of the hunters were from the Sand village as well, it can be told from the blue hair.

"Wow! They're so many." said Yuko

They saw the hunters use a variety of weapons, there were plenty of greatsword, hammers, hunting horns, but there was no gunlance in sight, which got Noa out of place inside the hall.

"I don't see anyone else using a gunlance here…" said the dismayed Noa  
"The Sand Village made that weapon remember. So you'll barely see weapons like yours." said Ken.

They planned to get a quest once they entered the hall, but they saw plenty of people taking quests. For one to get a quest in the Snow village's Guild hall, one must get a number and wait to be called. Once he is able to get a mission, and he may or may not allow others to join. They saw that the board was already out of new quests, and they had to wait for more to be released.

"Aww man! Just our luck, they don't have any more quests." Ken said in dismay  
"Yeah… too bad, we'll have to wait for the other one I guess." Yuko said while trying to keep her smile, even though she wanted to have a quest

Then, one of the receptionists called out the next number

"Number twenty!"

Noa felt a rumble in his stomach, and decided to sit down and eat while they are waiting.

"Let's sit down and grab a bite, we haven't eaten yet-"  
"Here I am number twenty!"

The person who was called was running towards the receptionist but did not notice Noa and accidentally collided with him behind his back.

"Oof!" they went. The impact was strong enough to push Noa down on the floor, with the person pressing on him.

The person was a female. She was a Snow villager, a girl who had a petite body of a pre-teen, her skin was as white as snow, pale grey hair in a bobcut, a long lock of hair on each side was braided with an adorable, little, green ribbon, as well as princess-like bangs which gave her the appearance of a life-sized doll. Her eyes were big, red, and beautiful. Snow villagers have blonde hair, red eyes, and big felyne ears as their trait.

She wore a robe with fur edges, big for her size with the sleeves overlapping her hands. It had a hood with thick, white fur, and had felyne ear designs. Her undivided _hakama_ was up to her knee, and since she had a thick robe, the _hakama_ does not need to be lengthened to keep her warm. Her footwear was fur boots with steel shin guards and steel toes on the outer layer.

"Oww…" the person went  
"Umm, miss could you please get off, you're pretty heavy"

"Hey that's so mean!" the girl said, getting offended, thinking Noa was talking about her weight. The girl got up and scolded Noa

"Don't ever tell girls they're heavy! It hurts our feelings."  
"Or maybe it's because of that gunlance slung behind your back?" Ken pointed out

"Wait, a gunlance?" said Noa, who got excited to finally meet a fellow gunlance user. He held her hands and started blabbering in excitement. He went

"Wow! A fellow gunlance-user like me! Oh thank goodness I'm not the only one! Could I please know you're name? We'll be great friends! Sorry I called you heavy…" and so on did he kept blabbering.

"Noa's very happy." Yuko said  
"I know right." Ken and Marina sighed

"My name is Mineko Nagato, a graduate from the Snow village Hunting Academy." She introduced herself, and then realizes that she was supposed to get to the receptionists to get her quest.

"Oh no! I forgot I have to get my quest!" she went, and ran.

When she got to the receptionists, she was tasked to fill up forms for the quest she wanted to pick.

"Please sign this form ma'am." said the receptionist as she gave Mineko the forms.

Mineko filled up everything, her identification, the time she took the quest, and the time she must end it. She also wrote her quest, what rank it was, and whether it was a slaying quest, hunting quest, or gathering quest.

"Would you like people to join, ma'am?" the receptionist asked  
"Hmm… I guess I could ask for some help. But who?" Mineko went

She then thought "_How about those guys I bumped in earlier?_" and stared at Noa and the others, who were sitting in a bench while eating food. Mineko told the receptionist that she would like others to join her quest. She said

"Wait a minute." And ran towards Noa and the others

"Umm… mister?" Mineko called for Noa's attention  
"Hmm? Oh Mineko! My name's Noa, so you don't have to call me mister." Noa smiled at her

Mineko told them that she wanted to have people accompany her on her quest, and asked them if they could help her out in it. She felt shy when she asked the group she never knew to join her, but she too—like the group—wanted to finish this quest to proceed outside the village.

"Umm… I was kinda looking for hunters to help me with this quest, and I hoping if you guys could go with me?"

What she said gave the group a surprise. But not only a surprise, it also gave them excitement. Noa and Marina both grabbed Mineko by the shoulder with joy.

They shouted  
"You rock Mineko!"

They finally got a quest in the Snow village. They went to the receptionist completed the form to take the quest, they each gave their identification, and most important, their hunting licenses, which is proof that they have finished their training at hunting academies. When they finished, they immediately left through a door next to the receptionist's counter. The door led to what looked like a stable for Popos.

The stable was made of old wood, it smelled like manure, and the mountain breeze did not make the odour any better. There were carts prepared by the guild with felynes and meylinxes packing their supplies like rations and a yurt they will be using as their home base.

"Wow! The guild prepared this?" Yuko said  
"Yes, the guild prepares everything for the hunters who are going on a quest." Mineko said  
"Licensed Hunters are not like the military or armed travellers, we get assistance from the Guild. Unlike the Elder quests, Guild quests are STRICTLY for licensed hunters like us only." Noa explained.

In the world, the North and South continents have the Seven Great Villages who train hunters in hunting academies supervised by the Guild League. The Guild League is a group of Guilds in the Seven Great Villages who help train hunters to kill monsters.

Hunters are portrayed by many as mercenaries who would kill monsters only for a price. They also receive prestige and honour around the land when they have achieved the High Rank Hunter status. Places without a guild could hire a hunter but they are not sponsored or supplied by the guild. Others have the local warlords who could make militaries of their own, thinking it is far better than hunters, and use them to defend their lands, and even invade.

Then as Mineko was putting her own items, then she placed a box full of their rations and necessary items. But the box was too heavy for Mineko to lift

"Heavy…" she went

Just as she struggled with the box, Noa went and helped her put it in the cart by taking the other side of the box.

"You need some help?" He asked  
"Why yes, thank you." She replied

"Noa is such a chick boy…" said Ken, jestingly accusing Noa a womanizer

"It's just being friendly, you ass…" Noa answered back

Ken placed his own items at the cart and introduced himself to Mineko, followed by the girls.

"By the way, I'm Ken Ryuugasora, nice to meet you ma'am"  
"I'm Marina Otogamine"  
"And I'm Yuki Matsudaira"

Finally, they finished with their packing and got inside cart as well. The felynes got on top of the Popo and off they went, heading up the mountain. The back of the large Guild hall was a secret passageway that led up to the mountain's hunting grounds, which was behind it. As they went up the mountain pass's hairpin-like roads, the snowfall started to getting thicker like it was rain, and it started to get colder and colder. And while they were on their way to the hunting grounds, Noa and the group has been wondering ever since they met Mineko.

"Uh, Mineko?" Noa called  
"Yes?" Mineko smiled back

"So why do Snow villagers have felyne ears and a tail?" Asked Noa

Mineko then started to touch her ears and explained to Noa

"Well we've been known to have these types of ears since time immemorial. It was said that the founder of the Snow village had already had felyne ears."

"I actually thought the Author just didn't have anything to do and made her like that..." said, Ken calmly, with a slight chuckle.

"Well what can you do? He wrote this story anyway…" added Yuko

"Instead of breaking the Fourth Wall for the reader's enjoyment, why don't we focus on the mission?" Marina suggested.

Then Marina's curiosity got the better of her when she noticed Mineko rubbing her gunlance with her hands while humming with joy. Gunlances were Sand village trademark weapons, and were heavy-class weapon, when Snow villagers are known for using light weaponry.

"Uh, Mineko?"  
"Yes Marina?"  
"About your weapon? The Snow village is known to be the Village of the light-handed. Why are you using a Sand village heavy-class weapon?"

"Oh! Actually, the Snow village allows us to use any weapon we want to use. We only pick the light weapons because we climb on mountains, and using heavy weapons are going to be hard to have. And I just love the gunlance, it looks so cool, and powerful!"

"I see… I hope you won't have a hard time. It will be bad if that becomes a disadvantage" Marina said

Mineko waved her hand indicating not to think about it, and said "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, but thanks for your concern."

"Wow, Marina, you sure are considerate." Yuko said  
"I'm not, really" Marina scratched her head with humbleness

Ken, as always, joked about Marina by saying "She's got a sister-comple—kuu!"  
Until Marina kicks Ken on the gut, and made him hold on to his stomach.

"With a little violent side hehe." Mineko smirked

Finally, they got to the hunting area. While the felynes and meylinxes were setting up the yurt, they were already taking their necessary items for the hunt. They took their rations for their stamina, hot drinks in case they get cold, whetstones for their blades, their potions to heal wounds, and their barbeque spits in case they run out of rations, all of which were provided by the guild.

"Our quest will be a Popo hunting quest, and for some reason it's a higher quest than normal. We got fifty minutes to finish the entire quest." Mineko said as she read the hunting request  
"It says here, we'll need to hunt for some Popo meat, and Popo tongues, around ten of each." She placed the request inside her small sling bag, and enthusiastically yelled

"Okay. Let's go!"

They got ready and prepared for the hunt, but as they left what guild hunters called "Safe zone"

"Argh!" they went as the strong winter winds became a powerful blizzard. They proceeded with their hunt and climbed up to the top of the mountain. They went inside caves to reach the top portion of the mountain. They were given a map to see just where they were headed. Finally they managed to get to the top of the mountain, and luckily, found a group of twelve Popos, young and adults, trying to flee from the harsh weather.

"Okay! We found some! C'mon let's go get it!"

Noa attacks first and then Ken, Yen and Marina attacks the second one, Mineko uses her gunlance, and fires it for the first time, killing the third on her own. While the other Popos started running for its life, Mineko wanted to stop them. But with the sheer weight of the Gunlance, she started to get tired. Her pace with the gunlance, was not like that of Noa's, and started panting, just after her first kill.

"_Man, this Gunlance is getting kinda heavy. I'm not used to it I guess… oh man, I can't kill much at this pace"_

Noa killed off the fourth Popo by continuously stabbing it. As they continued hunting down Popos, the blizzard got stronger, that they could not see each other through the snowstorm, they barely even see the blood of the dead Popos staining the ground.

After killing the eleventh, the group started carving up the dead monsters and got more than what they needed. Mineko was not contented with just killing one. She tried to overcome her fatigue and chased after the last one heading towards a cave.

"I'm not going to let you get away." Mineko said with a slight faint voice. She ran for the last Popo, but Noa and the others told her that they have enough and she does not have to continue hunting for more.

"Mineko! We have enough!" Noa yelled  
Mineko did not listen to Noa and said "It'll only… take a minute!" she said as she sprinted to kill her prey.

And as she finally caught up with the Popo…

GRAAAAAAAAAAA!

They heard a grand roar, they did not know where it came from, but it sure sounded like a powerful monster. Mineko stopped chasing after the Popo and looked up, trying to find where that roar came from.

"What the-?" she went. It did not sound good, and she had no choice but to run away along with the others. Yet before she could reach the group, who just finished gathering.

The monster they were about to run away from came down upon them, which struck them with fear.

"Kyaa!" Mineko shouted.

The monster was a far too strong opponent for them. It was ochre, and scaly. It had stripes like a wild jungle animal. The eyes were red with rage, with a look that stunned its pray with fear. Its claws were razor-sharp, which could slash anything, from rocks to ice, and especially, flesh. The fangs were long and pointed meant to tear off the skin of its prey with one strong bite. The size of the monster was huge, towering over the group like a behemoth.

The monstrosity roared loudly ounce again, it was enraged like a beast awoken from its disrupted slumber. The monster stared at Mineko, with its terrifying eyes. Mineko was too scared to move. The monster made a quick swoop to Mineko, but she blocked it with her shield. But the monster was too strong that it broke the shield and she was knocked back by the blow.

Mineko only had her gunlance, but she withdrew it and tried to get away from the monster.

"MINEKO LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Noa yelled. His yell caught the monster's attention and it went after the group instead. Mineko ran for them so that they can run away and not get caught.

They ran as fast as they could, but the Monster flew in front of them, they had no choice but to find another way out. The blizzard made it harder for them to find where to go, and they were lead near an edge of a cliff.

"Damn!" Noa went

They looked back, only to see the monster preparing to smite them with its huge claw. They acted upon reflex by blocking the attack, but due to the power of the Monster, they all flew backward, and fell on the cliff. Mineko's gunlance, which she used to block, after losing her shield, was snapped in two pieces, the other weapons, severely damaged.

"GAH!" they went as they fell.

Just three to four minutes after they fell, they woke up on top of a huge pile of snow, they were wounded by the Monster, but they could still walk. They get up, only to know they were already at the foot of the mountain.

"Mnmnmnm…. What the heck happened?" asked Noa  
"My back hurts…" said Yuko  
"Ouch, who has a hot drink?" asked Mineko  
"Man, what kind of a monster was that?" asked Marina  
"My butt is cold…" complained Ken

They get their potions from their bags, and are glad to see that the things they carved out of the Popos were still intact. Just two meters away, they saw their weapons, damaged by the strong beast. Mineko's gunlance did not have the same condition, hers was completely broken.

"M-my gunlance…" Mineko went, and fell down on her knees in shock. The gunlance was not as strong as Noa's steel gunlance, hers were made of bones and iron. It was snapped in two, and was irreparable.

"Mineko…" Yuko said with worry  
"Look Mineko-" Noa went to her

"That was so stupid of me!" Mineko shouted, with tears dripping off her cheeks  
"If I hadn't chased that Popo because of my pride, I would still have my gunlance!" she sobbed and continued crying over her broken gunlance.

But Noa gave a sigh and walked to Mineko to at least try to comfort her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and started patting it. Mineko then stopped sobbing, surprised by Noa's pat on the shoulder

"Y'know Mineko. Hunters make mistakes too. But we learn from it through experience. If it wasn't for the gunlance, you would've died."

Mineko then wiped the tears of her face, but was still sobbing.

"Yeah Mineko! You were given a second chance to live!" Marina cheered Mineko up  
"Well look on the bright side, you're alive, and that's that! The author spared you!" Ken stated

"There we go again…" Yuko smirked.

Noa then helped Mineko get up and said

"Don't worry Mineko, we'll give half of our pay for you to buy a new weapon!" Noa said it with a straight face, but Mineko could not have such an offer. They did more work than she did, and she felt too embarrassed to accept what Noa gave her.

"No! What about your weapons?" she asked  
"It's not that hard to have our weapons fixed. So we'll give our pay, and you get a good weapon!"

"Please, I don't wanna be a burden! It's your hard-earned money!" Mineko said

Noa gave another sigh, but then he thought of a better idea

"Okay how about this? You tag along with us! That way, you can pay for what you owe!"  
"What!?" Marina reacted  
"A-Are you sure Noa?" Mineko went  
"Sure! We need more members with our group, I mean—we'll need all the help we get to become high-class hunters. So waddaya say?"

"C'mon Mineko, we can sure need your help!" Yuko encouraged  
"I'm okay with giving my money, but Mineko, don't you have other quests?" Marina said

Mineko told Marina

"I'm not into hunting because of getting to the high-class ranking. We Snow villagers are different from the Sand villagers who do it because it's for social standing. I'm into it…" Mineko thought at first, and then smiled with her answer

"Because it's fun!"

They were silent for a moment, and then started laughing. Mineko's frown was quickly turned into a smile by Noa and the others. Noa then looked at his hunting watch and saw that they only have ten minutes before the quest end.

"Man… that was tiring. Hey we only got ten minutes left, let's get out of here." said Noa  
"Yeah!" they went with their closed fist raised high, and smiles on their faces. They took their weapons, and went back to the Safe Area.

Finally, they got back to the Snow village guild hall. They went to the receptionist and gave the bag full of Popo tongues and meat. And finally, they received their pay, which they gave fifty percent to Mineko, all in all it caused 5000z, good enough to make a new weapon.

They then decided to go to the village Elder, to ask about the monster they encountered during their last hunt. They climbed up the cliff to get to the Elder's giant hut.

As they got to the hut, they went inside, with the Elder sitting on the middle, sitting on the _Tatami_ and doing calligraphy.

"Hello, what do you want young ones?" said the Elder. To the group's surprise.

"Elder-sama!?" they yelled in shock. The Elder of the Snow village looked exactly like the Elder of the Sand village, what distinguished them from one another was that the Snow village Elder wore a thick coat to keep him safe from the warmth.

The Elder looked at the four foreign hunters, and saw the sand village emblems. He knew immediately where they came from and said.

"You must be from the Sand village… My brother is your village Elder, he looks exactly like me ehehehehehe…" said the Elder.

"_What a weird family…_" they thought, with smirks on their faces.

"So what are you here for?" he asked

"We're here to ask a question?" asked Marina  
"What is it young lady?" said The Elder

"During our last mission, we were encountered by this large monster. It was large, thrice as big as us, and it had a large roar. With orangey scales and red eyes." Marina tried portraying it with her hands, from stretching her arm to emphasise the size, and using her hands to make an imitation of the jaw with her fingers as fangs.

But even if she did not imitate the monster, the Elder already knew what monster she was talking about

"Ah! That was the Tigrex, a powerful monster, fast, agile, and most of all deadly. The Snow village is home to the rarest, and even some of the strongest monsters known to man." He said.

"That's the monster we fought a while ago. We barely made it intact!" said Ken.  
"Yes… well I'm sorry you had to find it out the hard way. Both the guild, and I are asking hunters to deal with It. We just don't know when we can fight it, and if we close the hunting grounds for the guild, that could be a hassle for guild hunters." said the Elder, while playing with his beard.

Talking about the Tigrex struck fear into them. Facing a monster like almost got them all killed.

"Oh." Yuko looked down  
"If monsters are that powerful…" Ken went  
"Then, we have to get stronger!" Noa said

The others looked at Noa. He said to the Elder with enthusiasm.

"Elder, if your lands are said to give home to the rarest and strongest monsters, then we'd like to come back here and show them how strong we'll get!"

"Dang Noa, you really don't know when to quit." Ken said  
"And that's what's good to you." He placed his arm on Noa's shoulder

His words gave encouragement to his teammates as well. The Elder smiled at Noa and walked towards him. He said

"You are a very enthusiastic one hehehe." He laughed  
"But yes, to be a great hunter, you must face the greatest challenges."

"And remember everyone." He added

"Not every opponent in a hunter's life is a vicious creature."

They left the Elder and went back to their inn. It was already night time, but still the Snow villagers were seen outside walking from different food stalls that only open during evenings. They feasted inside the Guild hall, where it was still full of life, and full of hunters going on night quests. The group feasted with food, like Popo sirloins and Anteka steaks.

"Woohoo! We finished a Snow village quest!" Ken raised his wooden mug filled with grape cider. Noa was merrymaking too, celebrating their first quest outside the Sand village, and surviving the attack of the Tigrex.

"Yeah! Let's celebrate! The guild said that licensed hunters get the food for free when you finished a quest! Hahaha!" he started gulping down Strawberry cider down his throat like no tomorrow. He asked for more from the guild hall wench, and started eating a rare Anteka leg, but he was eating too fast and chocked on partially-chewed meat. He hit himself lightly on the chest with his closed fist, and when the food finally got down, started grasping for air.

"Be careful Noa." Smirked Yuko  
"Or else it'll be an Anteka that got you, and not a Tigrex." Mineko joked after drinking a warm mug of Milk.

Marina was also going along, and started gulping down apple cider.

"Aw yeah! So what place are we going this time?" she said. Noa checked his map which was inside his satchel. He unfolded the map and saw the next village.

"Hmm… ah, the Swamp village! It'll probably take us two to three days on foot."  
"The Swamp village is up north. It's farther than when we got here from the Sand village." Yuko said

"I bet the Swamp village is a very fun place!" Mineko said  
"We'll see about that." Ken replied

It got late, and the group decided to finally retire. The following day will be their journey to the Swamp village.

The following day, they prepared for the next trip, the Swamp village. Buying potions, and a knapsack, since they have some items they cannot throw away, like their coats. They each shared their weight, knowing they have no money to travel with any pack monster to carry it for them.

Ken was the person who was given the knapsack to, filled with most of their food, and some materials from their past quests. Noa carried two sling bags, one on each side, with his gunlance slung on his back. Marina and Yuko both had only one bag with them.

Mineko had her items packed in a big satchel, and had her new pair of lightweight dual swords slung on her back.

"Man, next time, we're buying something that could carry all this weight." Noa said  
"You said it." Ken added  
"Well you wouldn't want us girls to carry that, would you?" Marina said, with feminine pride

Ken replied "Please, you're an ape-"  
Marina punched Ken's face and said  
"An ape am I?" the enraged Marina said

Noa, Yuko, and Mineko laughed at Ken's expense…

"Hey, c'mon. Let's go!" Mineko said impatiently  
"Yeah, Swamp village here we come!" Noa turned his eyes towards the gate, and they started walking out the Snow village, with Mineko taking her last look of the guild hall.

"_And now I'm off to see the world, with new friends._"


End file.
